Watching Brittney Parks – aka Sudan Archives – weaving magic onstage with her MIDI violin, tiny bass guitar, and a Roland SP-404X, you get a tantalising glimpse, but not the full picture of the depths of her musical journey. Her latest single Natural Brown Prom Queen (Topless) from the album of the same name, tells the tale of just one side of her trajectory from a childhood in Ohio, going to church, watching Sailor Moon, membership of an abortive pop group with her twin and heartaches therein. The longer version of her story, though, includes a long-term love affair with the fiddle, its global ethnomusicology, DIY electronic scenes in Ohio and LA, a fondness for all things pedal-related… and a bucketload of artistic experimentation and field work in multiple countries besides. An avowed introverted extrovert who cut her teeth working alone, this latest album sees her working with her pick of collaborators, but as she explains, the new normal of Zoom calls and Dropbox helped her transform what could have been outside meddling into a harmonious relationship orchestrated from her homely, recently transformed basement studio. We caught up with the Stones Throw Records artist in London, the day after a late night shoot for the single NBPQ, and found out more.
When did you first know you wanted to do music?
“Probably fourth grade which was my first time realising that violin is my passion.”
There are people who get deep into learning acoustic instruments who then shy away from actually making anything original with it – preferring to work on technical expertise. How did you start to bridge
